Beer of the Week

Week of October 27th --- Beer of the Week


Spaten Optimator






Dark German Doppel Bock with a hefty 7.2% alcohol. I have had Spaten products before and always been happy with them, the Optimator would be my favorite of them. I would say for a beer that I have not had before and picked up off the shelf with no prior suggestions it may be one of the best choices ever. Many times a beer that is high in alcohol content can some times lose some of the beer flavor and have more of a wine like edge to it, but the Germans know what they are doing and have created a fine product here. I definitely recomend picking up a six-pack.

Yeah, the Optimator is submitting its candidacy for beer of the year.

Beer of the Week

Week of October 20th --- Beer of the Week

Hofbräu Oktoberfest




Is that an umlaut I see? I believe it is, and what more could you want from a German beer than an umlaut, seriously? If you require more from your beer the Hofbräu Oktoberfest is still a grand choice being that is has a solid flavor and above average drinkablity. How is one beer more drinkable than another? I have no idea but it sounds good. Just stop reading and go buy some, unless you were with me drinking it this weekend which pretty much rules out all but two of my readers.

Beer of the Week

Week of October 13th --- Beer of the Week


Taiwan Beer




Good luck getting your hands on one of these. Actually I am guessing that you can find it somewhere if you look hard enough for it. I had it hand delivered from Taiwan and it was probably worth the $932 airfare just to get one of these beers.* Anyhow it is a solid beer (I mean it says gold medal right on the bottle), but I would not give it higher than an average taste score. You can also notice the effect of added rice during the fermentation process giving it a Budweiser like taste. If you come across some it would be worth your while to pick up a six-pack just to say you tried the flagship of Taiwan beers.


*false

Beer of the Week

Week of October 6th --- Beer of the Week

Genesee Cream Ale




Didn't drink anything special this weekend so I will have to reach deep into the reserves and pull out Genesee Cream Ale as beer of the week.

Beer of the Week

Week of September 29th --- Beer of the Week

Miller Lite


I had successfully avoided naming Miller Lite for something like 14 months, but since I did not drink anything interesting in South Bend and I started Saturday morning with Miller Lite I have no other choice than to name it beer of the week.

A full (OK, partial) recap of the weekend will be up later this week (most likely not written by me) all I will let you in on is both Ron Burgundy and I hurled before noon on Friday. It was a hell of a start to the weekend.

Beer of the Week (The long awaited return)

Week of September 22nd --- Beer of the Week

Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest



Yeah, of course it is not quite October, but it was this or Genesee Cream Ale.

Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest holds the wonderful quality of being able to survive a 3 day power outage and come out tasting better than it went in. Not sure if that is a good thing. Not the best Oktoberfest I have ever had but for the price it is worth giving it a taste.

Beer of the Week

Week of September 1st --- Beer of the Week


Dinkel Acker CD-Pils



I always like a good German beer, and the Dinkel Acker fits that mold perfectly. It has that good crisp refreshing beer flavor without any annoying overbearing aftertaste. Apparently it is a close second (and rising) to Beck's in popularity of German beers in America, but after the publicity it gets here I am sure that it will shortly fall back to third.

Beer of the Week (or beer of the second half of August)

Date Irrelevant --- Beer of the Week

Stroh's





So I have never actually had a Stroh's, but I was told that I should bring some to the family reunion this weekend. If my family supports the beer it most likely means that it is...

1) Cheap

2) Probably not spectacular (never stopped me from drinking a beer before)

C) Had it's quality or lack thereof argued about for hours on end with neither side giving in

IV) Consumed in mass quantities

This is the part where I will pretend like I will comment on the quality of the beer after I have had one (or 12) but everyone knows I am far too lazy to follow up on that.

Beer of the Week (On the Road Edition)

Week of August 4th --- Beer of the Week

Newport Hurricane Amber Ale



Reporting to you live from Newport, RI on the first day of a 15 day excursion to the furthest* reaches of America.

The beer of the week is going to be tough for you to find (and by you I mean the 4 people who might read this) being that as I understand you can only get it in New England. If you have nothing better to do take a trip to the nearest purveyor of Newport Hurricane Amber Ale, and remember it comes highly recommended after 3.5 hours of sleep, 10 hours of travel, and far too much talk about science.



*Not Technically

Beer of the Week (on schedule even)

Week of July 28th --- Beer of the Week

Sweaty Betty





Good beer, better name. Sweaty Betty is a solid blonde wheat beer that is ideal for drinking on a hot summer day. If you are a connoisseur of the wheat beer this is one you will need to add to your catalog.

Beer of the Week (Friday Edition)

Week of July 21st --- Beer of the Week

Brooklyn Summer Ale





Good summer beer, light enough to drink at lot and just hoppy enough to keep me interested.

Beer of the Week

Week of July 14th --- Beer of the Week

Double Simcoe IPA





The Double Simcoe IPA is a hoppy beer. Hands down the hoppiest beer I have ever had and at 9% ABV is also packs a potent punch. After the first three drinks I was pretty sure that it was going to be a struggle to drink the whole thing. But after passing it around, making everyone else at the shindig try it, the taste really grew on me. There was only one problem, after drinking the Simcoe every other beer for the rest of the night tasted mostly like water (and I was not drinking coors light).

Beer of the Week

Week of July 7th --- Beer of the Week

Caguama






Caguama is not a bad beer, but it might as well be Corona Light.

Beer of the Week

Week of June 30th --- Beer of the Week
Summer Shandy




Beer mixed with lemonade? Sounds awful, actually tastes OK. Well tastes OK assuming that it is at least 90 degrees and sunny. So here is hoping that your 4th of July is sunny and warm so you can enjoy some Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy. Based on the local weather forecast I will probably be drinking some Coors Light in the rain.

Beer of the Week

Week of June 23rd --- Beer of the Week

Murphy's Irish Red




A solid take on the Irish Red. Most people have probably come across Killian's before Murphy's. Murphy's is definitely the better of the two.

Beer of the Week

Week of June 16th --- Beer of the Week

Michelob Light




A little late but better than never. In honor of what my dad was drinking before 10 AM on father's day Michelob Light will be the beer of the week

Beer of the Week

Week of June 9th 2008 --- Beer of the Week

LandShark






LandShark is a solid summer beer. If you get a chance to give it a try it will remind you a little of Corona with a little fruity (not overpowering) taste to it.

Beer of the Week (better late than never)

Week of June 2nd 2008 --- Beer of the Week


Hamm's




Yes. Hamm's is the beer of the week. Why? Well there I involved in a bet that was for a case of beer and after I won I was promised that said case of beer would be Hamm's. Best part of this deal is that a case of Hamm's is a thirty pack (6 bonus beers!!!!).

mmmmmmmm the dirty thirty.

Beer of the Week

Week of May 19th 2008 --- Beer of the Week



J. W. Dundee's Pale Bock







Of the beers I tried out of the JW Dundee's sample pack this was definitely not the best but it was for sure the most interesting. By interesting I most definitely mean confused. It had a very malty flavor that unfortunately reminded me of drinking a Mickey's 40 at the 156 yelling at people on Lane Ave. It also vaguely had a pale ale taste and some other taste that was beer like.

That is probably the worst beer description I have have made, but after the first 5 drinks all I could come up with is "it tastes like beer". Not sure that is a winning campaign, but what can you do.

Beer of the Week

Week of May 12th 2008 --- Beer of the Week


Warsteiner Premium Dunkel






A second showing for Warsteiner in the beer of the week. This time they show up with the Premium Dunkel.